December 7, 2010

The question the panel is being asked to decide is whether Congress may direct the president to declare a National Day of Prayer without violating the First Amendment's Establishment of Religion Clause.

Alternatively, the Seventh Circuit panel may choose instead to determine that the FFRF had no legal standing to sue Obama in the first place, in which case the circuit court can reverse the Wisconsin district court without ever reaching the above Establishment Clause question (some people would refer to the latter as "punting").

The oral argument does not provide much insight into which direction the court is inclined to adopt, but I think it's reasonably safe to say that at least two of the three judges do not seem particularly receptive to the FFRF's substantive First Amendment concerns.